IN THE SHOW: Antigonish pro scout David MacLean ‘thrilled’ to land job with Canadiens

David (left) and his father Paul MacLean are shown here in 2010. (The Casket)

He was born in Winnipeg, lives in Toronto and can likely be found in a rink as much as anywhere else, but David MacLean considers himself a Nova Scotian.

The 31-year old is in his first season as a pro scout with the Montreal Canadiens, after 10 years in the Phoenix Coyotes organization.

He’s a graduate of Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School in Antigonish and spends as much time as he can in the summer at the family cottage in nearby Malignant Cove.

He grew up around hockey; his father Paul either played in the NHL, coached or scouted in hockey since David was born.

When I reached him via phone, MacLean was nearing the end of a nine-day road trip. He started in Hartford and moved on to Boston, New Jersey, New York, Washington and then Hershey, covering both the AHL and the NHL along the way.

Such is the life of a scout.

“It’s a lot of work,” says MacLean, who estimates he sees about 20 games per month on average.

He avoids flying when he can, prefers to keep car trips under four hours, sets his own schedule and even gets to work in some family time as part of the job.

“Lots of times I walk over to Ricoh Coliseum to see my brother’s team play.”

His brother is former Halifax Moosehead A.J. MacLean, who is an assistant coach with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.

“I got started in the business based on my father,” said MacLean. “I was wherever his job took him up until Grade 11, when I moved back to Antigonish and played for the (Junior A) Bulldogs.”

He attended St. Francis Xavier University for a year with designs on being a history teacher, until he realized it was a “lot of work,” he said with a laugh.

Wanting to stay in hockey, MacLean moved to Toronto and went to film school at the time video was starting to become a big deal in the NHL. He got a job archiving hockey game footage at TSN and eventually got a break through a friend of the family who became the salary cap manager for the Coyotes, a team looking to become proactive in video scouting.

MacLean fit the requirements and was offered the job, and eventually became a scout, something he quickly came to love.

“I had a good run with the Coyotes, finding that guy who could come up and contribute on your third or fourth line. As a pro scout, that’s what gets you so excited, when you can identify a guy on another team who can come in and be a great fit.”

After parting ways with the Coyotes at the end of last season, MacLean learned of an opening with the Canadiens and eventually caught on with them late this past summer.

“I was thrilled to get the job,” he says. “When you get a chance to work for one of the greatest franchises and all of the history and winning that goes with it, it’s a great opportunity.”

MacLean says he likes feeling part of a team.

“There’s the camaraderie within your own organization, but you feel like you’re part of a group with all of the scouts. Everyone is friendly, everyone’s a joker and everyone likes to laugh. It’s like another team even though we are all ‘enemies,’ so to speak.

“It’s a great business to be a part of. I’m very fortunate. It has its ups and downs and its challenges like every job but at the end of the day, you’re watching hockey games.”